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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Barry Rogers recently retired
as global director of sales
at Haas Automation. Prior
positions include director of
global sales and marketing for
Sunnen Products, and national
sales and market manager
for Renishaw North America.
He also has served as general
manager of Cincinnati Milacron's LK CMM division
in Detroit, Michigan. Barry recently started Alpha
Strategies, a Chicago-based consulting firm which
he serves as president. alphastrategiesconsulting.com
recommended, spindle probing on a five-axis
machining center is compulsory. Although
probing is used to automatically set fixtures
and multiple work offsets; locate the part
precisely without the need for expensive
fixtures; and obtain other benefits, there's yet
another reason for a spindle probe on a five-
axis machine:
A spindle probe is the quickest, most
repeatable and most accurate method for
establishing centers of rotation for the rotary
axes and tables, trunnions, or programmable
C axes relative to the center point of the
cutter. To define the exact location of this
point in space, appropriately called a pivot
point, an offset value (like a tool offset or
work offset) must be applied to control
parameters. A probe determines this offset
precisely. The probe will also help compensate
for any pointing error the machine spindle or
table may have. Once this point is defined, all
axes are then relative to the center point of
the tool.
The pivot point is normally set using a known
artifact and a calibration routine, a process
that automatically maps the entire machine.
This artifact data is then analyzed to derive a
compensation value that is uploaded to the
control. Periodically, the calibration routine
can be quickly run and the values checked
to see if movement in any of the five axes
has occurred.
Today's Five-Axis Technology
The current technology in today's five-axis
machines delivers greater capability. These
machines always seem to get the job done
faster by enabling you to do more work in a
single operation. There are fewer operations
to program and fewer fixtures to create,
and there is less flipping of parts and less
in-process movement of parts around the
shop. This overall increase in shop efficiency
means more money in the bank. Perhaps it's
time to start thinking seriously about
five-axis machining.
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